Skipper Michael Clarke scored an unbeaten 103, his 23rd Test century, to help Australia post a challenging 316/7 at stumps on Day 1.

Clarke, who was not out on 99 before the last over, hit one four off Ravindra Jadeja over mid-off to complete a fine century off 168 balls with 11 fours and a six. Peter Siddle remained not out on 1 when stumps were drawn for the day.

It was an enthralling day of Test cricket as India, especially R Ashwin (6/88) dominated the first half of the day before Michael Clarke and Moises Henriques took the attack to the oppositions and helped Australia put a good total on the board.

Only one bowler could have broken the partnership between Clarke and Henriques. Yes, we are talking about Ashwin, who has taken all 5 wickets so far, finally separated Henriques from Clarke by removing the debutant for a well-made 68. Henriques’ 132-ball innings gave Australia a huge platform to post a good total in the first innings of the first Test. Clarke and Henriques put on 151-run stand which would help them reach a respectable total today.

Australia reached 300/5 when Moises Henriques hit Bhuvneshwar Kumar beautifully one through the cover for a four off the second ball of the 88th over. Australia’s team management would be hugely pleased with the effort after they were slumped to 153/5 during the post lunch session. It was really a great fightback by the Australians led by skipper Michael Clarke (93*) and Moises Henriques (66*).

Skipper Michael Clarke (67*) and Moises Henriques (45*) put on an unbeaten 100 run 6th wicket stand as Australia were looking all set to put a challenging first innings total on the board. Both the batsmen played really well and kept the scorecard ticking by milking the Indian bowlers and hitting boundaries in between when there were any lose balls on offer.

Clarke completed a well-deserved fifty off 88 balls with 5 fours and a six. With Ashwin not bowling and other bowlers looking ineffective with the old ball, Australian batsmen were taking a full advantage of the situation and scoring at a brisk pace.

Michael Clarke and Moises Henriques put on an unbeaten 62-run stand to pull Australia out of the woods after R Ashwin started the post-lunch session sensationally for India, taking 3 quick wickets to have Australians on the mat. The local boy sent back Shane Watson (28), Dav Warner (59) and Matthew Wade (12) one after another and claimed his five-for. Australia were shivering at 153/5. Things were looking really grim for the tourists

Clarke and Henriques then decided to fight it out and took the team past 200. Clarke, however, got a big relief when he was not given a bad-pad catch off Aswin at forward short-leg by umpire Kumar Dharmashena. Clarke was on 39 at then.

Skipper Michael Clarke (38*) and Moises Henriques (19*) stabilized the Australian innings after the tourists were struggling, losing 5 wickets for just 153 runs on the board. Clarke was looking like he would pose a big one if he gets enough support from the lower-middle order. Debutant Henriques also tackled the Indian spinners sensibly so far.

For India, R Ashwin's performance (5/49) is the only bright spot. Jadeja was bowling tightly but without any success. But Harbhajan Singh continues to struggle and does not look like getting wickets. He has been totally ineffective so far. His bowling lacked purpose and penetration. It's very hard to fathom how he got into the final XI in place of left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who was the best bowler against England a couple of months back.

Is Bhajji playing this Test because the BCCI wanted him to complete the milestone of playing 100th Tests and then quit Test cricket? What's our readers' opinion?

R Ashwin took all 5 wickets when he had Matthew Wade plumb in front of the wickets for 12 off 35 balls. With the ball turning and Ashwin bowling with a lot of guile, Australia's top-order, apart from skipper Michael Clarke (14*), found the going tough and perished. Ashwin became the wrecker-in-chief as he got five wickets for 42 runs in his 18 overs so far.

R Ashwin's great performance with the ball continues as he removed a determined David Warner for 59. Warner, who was dropped early on his innings, was caught dead in front of the wickets by Ashwin. Australia's vulnerability against off-spin continues! Wicketkeeper Matthew Wade has joined skipper Michael Clarke in the middle.

Australia are now really struggling on 133/4 and their batsmen were looking all sorts of trouble against the Indian spinners, especially against Ashwin.

Ravichandran Ashwin, playing a Test in his hometown Chennai for the first time, got the big breakthrough for India in the very first over after lunch. He had Shane Watson plumbed in front of the wickets for 28. Watson's 60-ball knock consisted of 3 hits to the fence.

LUNCH: A good over-rate means we squeeze in 34 overs in that first session. On the balance of things, Australia has perhaps shaved it and the drop catch off Warner is beginning to make a telling difference. Ashwin has been excellent and has bagged both wickets this morning and has figures of 2-30 in his 11 overs. Watson and Warner are looking good at the crease and the Indians will need to break this partnership ere long if they want to push ahead in this game. Time for lunch right now. Aaloo-ka-paratha anyone? Or noodles? Bon appétit, either way!

The hundred is now up for Australia and they’re steadily and slowly gaining back their confidence. Still a couple of balls going in the air, a little too close for comfort, but falling safe. Warner, meanwhile, dropped early on by Sehwag off Ashwin, has reached his 50, the 6th one of his short career. The Indians could really be made to regret that miss!

Jadeja and Ashwin bowling in tandem now and the runs have been tougher to get off late. Some good fielding by the Indians as well. The run rate’s coming down too, not that it makes any difference whatsoever. They are getting the odd boundary though. A special mention for Jadeja who’s been excellent in the field so far.

WICKET! And Hughes now returns to the pavilion. Ashwin is on top here. He gets a second as Hughes looks to cut a short ball, but it was a loose shot and he only succeeded in totally misjudging the bounce and his under-edge just helped the ball onto the stumps. The dangerously sparkling Shane Watson is the new man in!

The Indian bowlers looking that much more dangerous now that they’ve tasted blood and the Aussie batsmen looking less confident all of a sudden. Meanwhile, Cricket Australia has said that they see no reason as to why the Hyderabad Test should not go ahead as planned. To read more on that, check out this story:

WICKET! Ashwin has looked the most dangerous bowler so far and in almost a repeat of a delivery he bowled earlier on, he gets one to drift in and bounce viciously, spinning away. Cowan tries to get to the pitch of the ball, but only succeeds in leaving his crease. Great sharp take by Dhoni and a good stumping. The partnership was beginning to get really attacking too, with Cowan having just hit a six off Bhajji in the previous over. Hughes is the new man in.

DROPPED! Ashwin comes in and, in his first over, gets Warner’s edge which carries straight to Sehwag at first slip, but it’s put down. It was a fairly regulation catch and this could be a big reprieve for Warner. India can’t afford to miss chances like these. Spin from both ends, by the way.

And Bhajji is already into the attack. ‘Attack’ is a word that can would work better for the Aussie openers at the moment as they’ve looked to get the early boundaries and put the bowlers on the backfoot. Ishant Sharma, in particular, had a bad second over, going for 13 runs! A couple of inside edges have also gone the Australians’ way.

Ed Cowan and David Warner take guard as the first Test starts off. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, playing his debut Test, will start the proceedings for India. He is the 276th Indian cricketer to play Test cricket for the country.

As the Aussie openers pad up, the devastating events that have unfolded at Hyderabad have cast a doubt on the second Test which was scheduled to take place in the city from March 2. Reports suggest that the venue may be relocated after the terror attacks that shook the Andhra capital last night.

Harbhajan Singh lines up for his 100th Test match as the Border-Gavaskar Trophy gets underway today. The two teams with a rich recent past and a fiercely competitive sporting rivalry are, at the moment, going through a transitional phase as they look to rebuild a new squad that can reach as far as, if not further than, their previous glorious teams.

Australia will rely on their pacers in the bowling department on a spin-friendly Chepauk track after their turners failed to impress in the warm-up games. Moises Henriques makes his debut for the visiting team that lacks the awe of previous visiting squads.

India will, supposedly, go in with their spinners and after seeing the Aussie batsmen struggle against India’s reserve spinners in the warm-ups, it will be interesting to see how they negate Bhajji and co. Interestingly India hasn’t lost a test match at Chepauk since that fateful game against Paksitan in 1999.